Bob was my best friend in high school. We met as members of the McClellan Cadet Squadron, Civil Air Patrol in Sacramento. We both dreamed of military careers and spoke almost daily on the phone about CAP and military history. We both became cadet lieutenants. (that's Bob below in his CAP uniform)

Bob was raised by his grandparents in West Sacramento and he attended James Marshal High School. Bob's parents were out of the picture. He played football at Marshal and summers, he got up before dawn to pick the local crops for rotten wages. During the school year, when he wasn't at football practice, he volunteered at the local Air Force recruiting station.

Bob's grandparents didn't have much money so on the money saved as a picker, went to Delta Community College. He studied a new field, computers. He wanted to go to San Jose State College (now University) and he went down there for registration. He stumbled into a antiwar protest. This annoyed him so much he volunteered for the Army Airborne.

Bob attended basic training and AIT at Fort Lewis in 1967 and I visited with him there. He went on to Noncommissioned Officers Candidate School. Upon graduation he was promoted to Sergeant E-5 - a "Shake and Bake".

Bob was sent to Viet Nam in November 1968 and he was promised that as a volunteer he would be in the airborne unit of his choice. The Army sent him to the 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta.

Before Bob left he sent me a gift, a sweatshirt with an Ed Roth characture of an infantryman shooting and running through the mud. I still have it.

Bob arrived in country in November and was assigned to 2nd Platoon, A Company, 2/60th. His platoon sergeant was Richard W. Carter. The battalion allowed men to become acclimated before going on operations, but Bob volunteered early.

His last letter to me is dated November 26, 1968. It reads,
"Greetings from the front. Well old buddy I am what you call a combat veteran now. I learned what it's like to be a deer during hunting season. Our AO is the Delta, all rice paddies and mud. You cross the patty and move into the wood line, that woodline is murder. We had six KIA yesterday. The point man was 15 feet from the bunker when the guks opened up. Doc was put in for the CMH [the medic was eventually awarded the Distinguished Service Cross] for his actions. He was one of the six. The guys feel real bad about it. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We're going out on Bushmaster. War isn't very pretty besides it messes up my sleep. Charlie gets you up all hours of the night with his mortars. Hey Dave, gotta clean my shootin' iron. Say hi to everyone for me. Bob

On December 10, 1968, just two weeks after this letter, Bob was on a patrol in the delta. The regular point man, who was very experienced, didn't want to enter an area known to have booby traps. Bob and PFC Gary Stephen Hodges took the point. Hodges tripped a 155mm artillery round rigged as a booby trap. The explosion killed them both. (I got the story 30 years later from a member of the patrol who I contacted through the battalion web site.)

Bob is buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, Califonia. His granparents, the Careys died in the 1970s and are buried with him (Emmett Carey was a veteran of World War I).
Posted by: David Wilma (Photo Credit)
Email: DavidWilma@comcast.net
Relationship: We were close friends
Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Linda Andrade
sportironhead@msn.com
sister
california USA
He has never been Forgotten
I was twelve. I have a picture of him right before he left, at my moms, laughing at the camera. I have never forgotten him and have touched his name every time the wall was here and cried like the first day he was gone.He was also a proud member of the Civil Air Patrol for many years searching for those whose planes had gone down in California. He helped so many families find their loved ones and shared in their grief also. He was a hero!
Thursday, June 09, 2005

Tom Welch
Kincar1@hotmail.com
Good Friend
909 Cold Brook Wy Galt Ca 95632 USA
Always Remembered
Bobby and I were best friends in High School. I was a year ahead of him. I was notified by by mom of his death while I was at An Khe. I still remember all the great times we had walking the length of West Capitol Ave to go bowling or just kill an evening. I always think of him with a smile he was a natural born radio DJ!!
Feb 3, 2009